Fabric feed control



Sept. 7, 1937. i

K. F. TANDEL FABRI C FEED CONTROL Filed Feb. 14, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 w W "3f-QW@ MW 1 Maynuya sepf.7,1937.` Y KF. TANDEL 2,092,340

FABRIC FEED CONTROL Filed Feb. 14, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 7, 1937.

K. F. TANDEL FABRId AFEED CONTROL Filed Feb. 14,. .1936

4 SheetS-Sheet 3 Sept. 7, 1937.l K. F. TANDEL Q 2,092,340

FABRIC FEED CONTROL l Filed Feb. 14, 195e ey `4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Sept. 7, l1937 Kai-1 Fritz randen, chemnitz, Germany, assigner to C. G. Haubold Aktiengesellschaft, Uhcmnitl,

Germany, a. corporation of` Germany Application February 14, 1936, Serial No.v 63,96

' In Germany February 26, 1935 y 8 Claims. This invention relates to an Vimproved fabric feedncontrol for stretching, tentering, framing,

dryingfand likemachines.` It has for its principal ,object to providea method and means for l* the` maintenance of constant length values, or

piece length, inrme'shmaterial and particularly artificial silk knitted" material. Heretofore, con

,Q siderable diiilculty'has been'experienced in treatf2 ing .meshmaterials'in the said machines,r owing loto the pieces' becoming of unequal length, in

'n ,spitefrof thefact that they are fed into'such machinesfwith" a certain overfeed, that is to say withla speed'in excess of'that of the travelling chain. 'This'is a serious` drawback, because it may bejdue' partly'to the pieces having been worked`more'or less tightly on the knitting frame `'owing to different conditions off humidity 20 and' terrinerature.`v Also, it may be due partly to the 'pieces having assumedunequaldengths in Vwashing and dyeing. Whatever the causes may be, they are unavoidable.' l `With alteration in length; mesh material exterationsin' tension occur. In accordance with this invention, these alterationsin tension are:

of the material, so that the material may be fed 30 faster or slower in accordancelwith the said alterations. ln carrying out the invention, a widthwise tension detector or indicatorrmay be provided in theentry section of a machine of the kind referred to. This detector or indicator may serve 35 for the guidance of an operator exercising manual control of the overfeed adjustment. Or, the said detector or indicator may operate on said adjustment either directly or by way of a relay or servo-mechanism so thatthe said adjustment is automatically operated in accordance with the movements of the detector or indicator.

The detector 'or indicator ma'y comprise a detector roller which is pressed forcibly, as by` f means of a. spring or weight, against the web of material in the said entry section. This roller may be operatively connected with a pointer y movable over an appropriate scale, so that instant values of widthwise tension can be read off from such an indicator. `With manual control, the operator will adjust the overfeed control in accordance with his observations of the indicator so as torestore the correct tension. With automatic control, the movable pointer can be utilized for .eil'ecting adjustments vof the overfeed control 55 means, asfalready mentioned.

isessennaitnat :precise length 'sheuidrbe ensured" f ,for every piece. 4objectionable length variation hibits corresponding alteration in width and al- Stretch indicators are known and these usually comprise indicator means disposed in front of the activesection of a machine and a device beyond the same. Also, width indicators are known which comprise a pointenindicating the 5 set or required stretch-width and a second pointer operated by an edge detector under the influence of'the issuing web. Tension indicating means are known also for the warp threads in weaving looms. The present invention is distinguished, however, by making use of wldthwise detection in connection with the overfeed control in tentering, stretching, drying and like machines.

In order to enable the invention to be readily understood, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate one practical embodiment of the invention by way of example, in which drawings:-

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a tentering, stretching or drying machine with a widthwise detector in accordance with the invention, parts that are unnecessary for an under standing of the invention being omitted from this diagram.

Figure 2 is a plan of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a side elevation to a larger scale vand in greater-`v detail of the feed section of a machine such as is seen in Figure 1.

Figure 3a is a sectional rear elevation illustrating the power transmission in the machine.

Figure 4 is a front elevation of a detail in Fig- Y 'ure 3.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 3 but showing the entry section of the machine to which the feed section of Figure 3 appertains. 35

Figure 6 is a cross sectional front elevationl illustrating the detector mechanism seen in Figure 5.

Figure 'I is an elevation to a stil larger scale of the detector indicating dial seen in Figure 6. 40 Figure 8 is a circuit diagram of an electric relay motor to be controlled by the detector.

Referring to Figures land 2, thetensioning or tentering machine comprises two drying sections Tl, 'l2 beyond the entry section E. The web 45 of material a, entering and travelling in the direction lindicated by the arrowheads, passesthrough the sections E, T1 and 'I2 being engaged or grippedalong its edges by means such as hooks or needles on chains h of a known type. One form of such needle chain h is seen clearly in Figure 6. At its entry, the web passes around tensioning tubes or rollers b1 b2 disposed so as to cause the web to travel around a double bend which may be an S-bend, as seen in Figure 3.

The web is then passed over guide rollers c and d (Fig. 1) to widthwise stretching means e f g which may be of the known Slat construction indicated in Figure 2. The web then engages the chainsh and is passed through the entry section E to the drying sections T1, T. In the entry section E the underside of the web is engaged by a detector roller n. In the example illustrated, this roller n is supported by arms o1 o2 ilxed on an axle shaft r, the latter being fitted at its ends with arms carrying counterbalance weights t which tend constantly to' press the roller n n against the underside of the web a. It will be observed that the roller n presses against the middle portion of the web so that the latter is bowed or bellied upwards as seen in Figure 6. In

the example mustrated in Figure 1 there is an operative connection u between the axle shaft r and a pointer v movable in front `of a dial or scale w. Thus, deections of the pointer v will give instant indications of detection movements performed by the roller n in contact with the web a. After passing through the drying sections T1 T1, the web a, iinally passes to a delivery device Z which may' bea known device driven from the machine 'and adapted for depositing the web in folds.

'Ihe tensioning rollers, guide rollers, stretching means e f g and chain sprockets hl are mounted in aframing i. As seen clearly in Figure 4, the tensioning rollers b1 b have their ends journalled indiscs b3 mounted on short shafts b4 in bearings in the frame i. On a shaft b4 there is a worm wheel b5 in mesh with a worm bs on a shaft b'I revoluble in bearing brackets b' b on the frame i. The shaft b" may be turned by hand wheels b1 bu ilxed on its ends. As will be seen from Figure 3, there may be a worm wheel b1z fixed on the shaft b" and geared with a motor m so that the shaft b" may be turned byf the power means instead of by manual operation.

The widthwise stretching rollers e f g, which are of known construction and need no particular description, are supported by brackets e1 f1 gI on the frame i,'as shown clearly in Figure 3. On the frame i there is also supported a gear box 4 of any desired construction and .comprising change gears and a hand lever 4I for changing the gear ratio between va driving wheel 42 and a driven: wheel 4l'. The latter transmits the drive to the rollers e f g as hereinafter explained, these rollers being gearedA together lby end gears e2 f2 g. The main drive comes from a shaft I, Figure 5, which is driven by suitable means such as by belt or rope transmission or by an electric motor, not shown. The shaft I is geared with a shaft II, these shafts being supported in a framing k between the sections E and T1. A pulley 2 on the shaft II drives a cable 3 which is 'guided beneath the flooring and passes around and drives a pulley 5,`Figure 3, mounted on the frame i. The shaft 50 of the pulley 5 carries a pulley 6 drivinga cable I passing over a horizontally adjustable guide roller 8 and around the aforesaid wheel 42. The wheel 43, receiving its drive from the wheel 42 through the change gears, as already explained, drives a cable 9 passing around a pulley connected with the roller e. as seen also in Figure 3a, and over a vertically adjustable guide roller I9 before returning to the wheel 43. The drive thus transmitted, drives the rollers e f 9', the latter being intergeared as aforesaid.

The speed of revolution of the widthwise stretching rollers e f g which feed the material is alterable by operation of the gear change lever 4I and is greater than the speed of the chain h. Consequently the material passes from the rollers e f g to the needle chain h with overfeed and then travels through the section E in which the axle shaft ris mounted.

As will be seen from Figure 6, the axle shaft r extends between the chain-guiding bars h.2 h1I and carries the arms ol oz which press the roller n against the web a held by the needle chains h. Also, it carries the one or more arms s on which the balance weights t may be mounted so as to be adjustable, as by screw devices, so that the detection pressure of the roller n against the web a can be varied. In this development of the similar means shown in Figure l, and as seen in Figures 5 and 6, a cord s1 may pass from the arm s around the axle v1 of the pointer v which is movable in front of the dial w, which dialmay be provided with a scale w1 as shown in Figure 7. The cord sl may be weighted at its free end, as shown. 'I'he dial W is supported by a bracket W2 Figures 5 and 6.

The detector roller n can be made to bear against the web a with a predetermined pressure due to the weight t on the arm s. Consequently, the'web a is pressed upwardsto a greater or lesser extent, see Figure 6. With a given loading, the web will be pressed upwards toa greater extent as more material is fed by the widthwise stretching rollers e f g, and to a. lesser extent as less material is fed. 'I'he detector movements of the roller n are indicated by deflections of the pointer V over the scale W1 of the dial W.

A certain tension is predetermined for every kind of material and once this basic tension is v determined it can be indicated by a setting of an auxiliary pointer y, Figure 7. When the pointer V diverges from the auxiliary pointer y, the operator is warned that a greater or lesser tension is present in the material than that indicated by the auxiliary' pointer y. He then regulates the speed of the rope drive 9. to the rollers e f g by operating the change lever 4I and adjusting the gear ratio in the gear box 4. This causes the rollers e f g to run slower if the bellying of the web a, Figure 6, is too great, or faster if the reverse is the case. v

Ii' the deflection of the pointer V from the set positionoi the pointer y is only small, it is not necessary to change the gear ratio but correction can be obtained by adjusting the setting of the tensioning rollers 'bl b". For this purpose, the operator revolves the hand wheel 171 or bu and thereby turns the disc b3 so that the S-shaped curve of the web a in its passage over the rollers b1 b2 (see Figure 3) is either increased or reduced,

thereby braking or tensioning the web to a greater or lesser extent before it passes to the rollers e j g. 'I'he tensioning rollers b1 b2 are not driven. The shaft b4 may be geared by chain gear 1115, Figure 4, with an indicator dia'l b, so that the operator can conveniently observe the setting of the rollers b1 b.

'I'he detector roller n can be adapted for exerelsing automatic control by any appropriate means which may be a purely mechanical transmission or an electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic or like relay. By such means, the desired piece length can be maintained quite irrespective of the attention of the operator. In the embodiment described with reference toFigure 3, the motor m is provided for this purpose as already mentioned. The motor m may be controlled by the means illustrated in Figure '7, which shows limit contacts x1 and x carried by the auxiliary pointer y on each side thereof, and lying in the path of the pointer V. If the pointer V touches either of the contacts :c1 or then, in the case oi electrical control, an electric impulse is transmitted to the motor control by way of a relay so that the motor revolves in one-direction or the other. Thus, the motor m through the gearing b12 turns the shaft b'I in one sense or the other and thus appropriately adjusts the discs IJ3 for giving-a different setting of the rollers b1 b2 and increasing or decreasing the S-bend of the web a. In the circuit diagram, Figure 8, it is assumed that the motor m is a three-phasel induction machine connectedwith leads m1 'm2 m3, the supply means being indicated by D1 D2 D3. 'Iwo three-pole contactor switches s1 and s are disposed between mains and'leads and are adapted for being operated by respective electro-magnetic switches Z1 and Z2. Ifthe pointer V, under control of the roller n responsive to widthwise tension, touches the contact X1, current flows from D2 through the switch Zx so A is closed; Thereupon, the motor m is drivenl in one direction, say clockwise.

If the pointer V moves in the opposite direction and touches the contact X2, then the switch Z2 is energized by-connection between the phases D2 D3 and the switch S2 is closed. Thereupon, thev motor m is driven reversely or counter-clockwise.

When the pointer V leaves a contact X1 or X2 the corresponding switch Zl or Z2 is de-energized and its switch Sl or S2 opens so that the motor m comes to rest.

It is clearly to be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular mechanisms described and illustrated, as they are merely examples of l many different mechanisms capablev of being adapted for carrying out the invention within the scope o! the claims hereto appended.

1. Tentering machine for mesh fabrics, comprising tenter chains, means for feeding a web to said tenter chains, a detector roller disposed between the tenter chains, an adjustable loading for said detector roller, a ch'ange gear operable for varying the feed of said web, tensioning means controlling the feed of said web, an adjustment mechanism operable on said tensioning means, a

that the switch Slv reversible motor in driving connection with said adjustment mechanism, and motor control means in operative association with said detector roller.

2. lIn a tentering, stretching, drying or like machine for mesh fabrics, an entry section com prising travelling means for engaging the edges of a web, means for feeding a web to said entryV section, a detector in said entry section sensitive to the widthwise tension of the travelling web, and means operative for adjusting the rate of feed of said web in accordance with the widthwise tension of the web as determinedby said detector.

3. In a tentering, stretching, drying or like machine for mesh fabrics, an entry section comprising travelling means for engaging the edges of a web, means for feeding a web to said entry section, a detector in said entry section sensitive to the widthwise tension of the travelling web, means operative for adjusting the rate of feed of said web in accordance with the widthwise tension of the web as determined by said detector, and means operatively connecting said detector and said adjusting means.

4. Ina device according to claim 2 wherein said -detector comprises a roller, means for pressing said roller against said web, and means associated with said roller for indicating the widthwise tension of said web as determined by the movements of said roller.

5. In a device according to claim 2 wherein said detector comprises a roller, loading means for constantly pressing said roller against said web, and means for varying the effective force of said loading means.

`6. Ina device according to claim 3 wherein said detector comprises a roller, means forpressf ing said roller against said web, said feed adjusting means being controlled by the movements of said roller.

7. A device according to'claim 3, said feed adjusting means being power operated.

8. A device according to claim 3 wherein said detector comprises a roller, .said feed adjusting means being power operated and being controlled in accordance with the movements of said roller.

KARL FRITZ TANDEL. 

